FutureMark Paper Group recently announced that, due to increasingly challenging market conditions in the North American coated paper market, it will indefinitely idle its coated paper mill in Alsip, Illinois (FutureMark Alsip) in early September.
The Alsip mill, formerly owned by Myllykoski and known as Madison Paper Company, operates one machine and has the capacity to produce about 135,000 metric tonnes per year of coated groundwood paper.
According to FutureMark, Alsip is the only facility in North America making coated publication and printing papers predominantly from recycled materials.
“This is an extremely difficult decision for us given the exceptional achievements of the Alsip mill in producing coated papers with unmatched levels of recycled content and the dedicated work of all of our employees,” said Stephen L. Silver, CEO of Alsip.
“We explored many options to avoid this action, but the brutal reality for all coated paper manufacturers today is that falling demand and pricing pressure from lower-quality uncoated substitutes has driven prices to near historic lows. Combined with massive increases in energy costs over the winter, this pricing pressure has made it impossible for us to continue our Alsip operations at this time,” Silver explained.
Alsip will remain open for up to two weeks to fulfill orders and support customer efforts to transition to new suppliers. The mill presently employs 170 workers, and the announcement will affect all positions at the mill. After running out customer orders, a closure team will remain on site for a period of time to shut down the machine, maintain the facility and infrastructure, and support customers in the smooth transition of products and services.
